Ukrainian Opposition Ready to Form New Government

The Ukrainian opposition is ready to form a new government and to take full responsibility for the situation in the country, leader of the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) opposition party Arseny Yatsenyuk announced in statements to a local TV. However, Yatsenyuk ruled out the possibility of creating the new cabinet together with the pro-government Party of Regions. The opposition leader stressed that the primary reforms of the new government will include the demonopolization of economy, energy, tax, bank, legal and law enforcement reforms. He added that Ukraine would require loans from the IMF, the EU and the US to help finance the new government. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych will return to work on Monday after four days of illness, with protesters still demanding he give up power. The political crisis has continued unabated in his absence, with thousands on the streets of the capital, Kiev . Opposition leaders had previously expressed scepticism about his illness. On Sunday they again called on him to stand down while speaking to crowds of protesters in Kiev’s Maidan square. Ukraine has been plunged into a deep political crisis that in the last week saw the Prime Minister and Cabinet resign, a controversial anti-protest law repealed, and the President signing off on a contested amnesty bill for anti-government protesters. Thousands of demonstrators have packed Kiev’s Independence Square since November, when Yanukovych reversed a decision to sign a long-awaited trade deal with the European Union and turned instead toward Russia . (QNA)